Do you ever get flustrated when friends or coworkers conversate?
Now, y’all know I’m pretty laid back. I even use words and expressions like y’all and laid back.
I’m not in the BBQ Pit because I’m not all that worked up about it, but…
Does it strike you as odd that supposably intelligent people mispronounce common words with amazing frequency?
To be pacific, many people mix up real words. Or, they use nonsensical words or phrases irregardless of the fact that they aren’t saying what they think they are saying. I could care less. Really, I could. But they couldn’t.
To them it’s as natural as moisture condensating on the window.
I guess I should let them alone and leave it be.
I reckon I will. As a grammar cop, my enforcement would be inconsistent. Some things aggravate me, some things don’t.
People like that are probably too disorientated to go to the liberry and look up the words.On the other hand,maybe ----->there<----- (another peeve of mine) liberrydon’t gots a dictionary.
At the risk of sounding racist…
but, dont it seem like most of the people who talk like this are black? Or whites who are married two/children of blacks?
(I dont use African American, because i’m white, not European/Anglo American)
I have noticed that the vast majority of people have little or no interest in the actual meaning of the words leaving their mouth, or if the sounds they make are even related to words. My theory is that most humans communicate entirely using body language and contextual clues, and become extremely frustrated when asked to get some kind of meaning across using words. To a lesser degree, this shows up in the written communications of otherwise intelligent people who become aggressive morons when you give them a pen or keyboard. Correcting people who don’t know how to speak or write is a lost cause, as they really don’t care.
I like to play a little game with my roommate, who speaks an excellent Bombay English. Whenever he says something, I respond to exactly what he says rather than what I can guess he means. Hilarity ensues, sometimes for hours.
I don’t see the race angle, either. People of all races, creeds, and orientations take a perverse pride in their inability to speak any language at all.
My writing partner is one of the smartest people I know. Extremely well educated, and as well-read as they come. As a writing major, he has a supreme command of the English language.
So when he uses the ‘word’ “irregardless”… it sends needles shooting up my spine.
is it possible for me to post anywhere whithout offending anyone?
AHHHH!
yes ive met many others who use very bad english. but, where i am from, some people take a perverted pride in their raping of the english language. This raping is known as Ebonics.
I know somtimes I type written words strange (i dont think that “strange” fits very well at the end of that sentence)
however, its early, Im sleepy, and i type the same way i think…wich is the reson for the over abundance of periods in my posts…see?
NOW I HOPE I HAVENT OFFENDED ANYONE WITH THIS ONE…
First, its not a real language. Second, if its a dialect, it is one that was made intentionaly. Third, I dont care how great you think they are, “Phat”, “Mad-fly” and “Izzo” are not real words.
I can go on about this one for quite some time.
Rape–this uasualy means to take advantage of forcefully.
Therefore feel that ebonics (root word ebony…go figure?)is a raping of the english language. It is an attempt to take advantage of the english language by forece.
Im sure Ive just offended some other soul.
But…Guess what…I dont care anymore.
Well, how do you distinguish real words from unreal words? To me, at least, a word is “real” if it becomes used regularly and consistently among a group of people. Are words real based on their presence in a dictionary, or based on usage? If the former, that’s a pretty lofty argument. If the latter, then I guess you would say that “cool” isn’t a real word in the context of “That new video game is cool!,” right?
I’m sure that many people out there would argue with you that, despite how fake words like “phat” and “tight” are, they are real.
FWIW, “phat” started out as an acronym. Back in the day.
It means “Do Not Feed The Trolls”. FWIW, Justin, I generally agree with your OP and I wasn’t trying to flame you, either- I’m genuinely interested in how you distinguish ‘real’ words. I, for example, don’t really consider “mad-fly” to be a real word because I haven’t seen it used consistently around here, but I do consider “phat” to be a (rather new) word now that it has a strong user base.
Let me break it down, here. TN*Hippie posts a bit of cleverness lampooning the way that a majority of the American populace speaks. Forbin continues in that vein. Then WHAM! Justin pulls in with and says that blacks and, here’s what gets me, whites with black spouses are the primary perpetrators of this linguistic transgression. At best, we have here a hijack involving a racial generalization of breathtaking scope, and at worst we have a statement that will obviously inflame a great many people for reasons completely unrelated to grammar. The errors described in the OP are depressingly common in all strata of American society (Our president, fercrissakes) and the examples are just as likely to occur in a corporate boardroom full of old white men as anywhere else.
It’s my opinion that Justin’s intent wasn’t to arouse anyone’s temper. He stated his opinion and, albeit an unproven generalization, that’s what I consider it.
I respectfully disagree, but let’s not hijack this particular thread any further on ethnic relations to misusing language.
I think I have a decent vocabulary, and scored real high on the SAT verbal. That said, I used to say “irregardless” until someone pointed out that it was incorrect.
Agreed. It’s a dialect. African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Been a subject of study by linguists for going on a century now. Do a Google search on it.
To the degree that all dialects are created “intentionally,” because of share cultural traits and/or geographic separation.
Since Civil Defense already took up the question of what a “real word” is ( Is “fax” a real word? Was it real in, say, 1954? How about “googolplex?”), I’ll simply ask what exactly you think current slang has to do with Ebonics/AAVE.
Wow–a dialect that arose among American blacks is named with a root which means “black.” Color me shocked. Pun intended.
So, how do you feel about Cajuns? Or people from Pittsburgh? Is the correct pronunciation of “water”: WAH-ter or WOO-der?
Just out of curiousity, do you imagine that everyone posting at the SD is white?
